Coal mining and conveying machine



April 1951 A. CROSSLAND 2,548,952

COAL MINING AND CONVEYING MACHINE Filed Aug. 27, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 0s o w 3 a M k I Inventor April 17, 1951 A. CROSSLAND COAL MINING AND CONVEYING MACHINE 's Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 27, 1948 m w b April 17, 1951 A. CROSSLAND COAL MINING AND CONVEYING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 27, 1948 N whv I NA l Sn? t 1 Invmltur #5 1 0 fleas/and A Home Patented Apr. 17, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COAL MINING AND CONVEYING MACHINE Alfred Crossland, West Newton, Pa.

Application August 2'7, 1948, Serial No. 46,392

This invention relates to a novel coal mining and conveying machine and more particularly has reference to a machine for use in tubular mining and which is operated by the cutting of a number of circles in the coal.

.More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide amining machine which will cut circles in a vein of coal in advance "of the machine "and so as to leave a small amount of the coal above the cutters whichexecute thecircular cuts in advance of the machine and beneath .the slate so that the coal thus left will form a roof or overhead support for the passage or tunnel formed by the machine thereby eliminating the need for reinforcing the tunnel or passage with timbers to support the slate.

Another object ofthe inventionis to provide a circular cutter wherein the overhead coal left beneath theslate will be of arch-shaped formation which will materially increase its supporting strength.

Another and important object of the invention is to provide a cutter including means for cutting coal from beneath the machine and between the forwardly disposed cutters and by which the cut coal will be swept laterally of the machine and into a position to be received by a conveyor. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a coal mining and conveying machine having endless conveyor means on to which the cut coal is swept and by which the coal is conveyed to a point beh-indthemachine for delivery to suitable means on which the cut coal can be removed from the tunnel or passage being formed by the machine. 7

. Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 isa top plan view, partly broken away ofthe coal mining and conveying machine;

"Figure '2 isa side elevational view, partly in section'thereof; v

Figure 3 is a front 'elevational view of the machine; v

Figure '4 is a'longitudinal sectionalvie'w thereof "taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure l; and

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view "taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the coal-cutting and conveying machine "inits en- 2 Claims. (Cl. 2627 tirety is designated generally 1 and includes an elongated body 8 the rear end and top rear portion of which is open to accommodate an operator who operates the machine 1 while seated on a seat 9 which is supported by the bottom H] of the body 8 and which projects outwardly and upwardly from the rear end thereof.

'The machine I is powdered by an electric motor II which is disposed within the body 8 and suitably fastened to the bottom It thereof and which is provided with a drive shaft having an end or portion 12 extending forwardly from the motor H through a "bearing l3 and through the front wall I4 of the body 8. The motor I] is also provided with a rearwardly extending drive shaft portion 15 carrying abeveled gear [6, for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent. A short shaft I1 is journaled in the bearing l3 and front wall I4, substantially parallel to the drive shaft portion [2 and the forward ends of the shafts l2 and H are provided with meshing gears [8 and I9, respectively, which are disposed forwardly of the front wall 14. A pair of correspond'-' considerably greater diameter than the gears l8 and i9. Forwardly of the gears 23 and 24, the shafts and 2| each carry a cutter frame, designated generally 25 and 26,.respectively. The co'r-. responding cutter frames 25 and 26 each include a hub 21 which is fixed to the forward end of:

' its shaft and which is provided with three equally spaced radially extending arms 28. Each arm 28 carries a crosshead 29 adjacent its outer end from the ends of which project cutting bits 30 which extend forwardly from its cutter 25 or 26 and in a direction forwardly of or away from the machine 7. Each arm 28 is also provided with a plurality of coal picks 3| which are spaced radially with respect thereto and which extend outwardly therefrom at an angle obliquely .to the plane of the cutter and toward its direction of rotation. As best illustrated in Figure 1, the crossheads 29 are supported in advance or forwardly of the arms 28 by forwardly projecting rods 32 which extend between said arms and the crosshead '29 supported thereby.

The shaft'porti'on I2 provided with a clutch disposed between the motor H and bearing l3 and said part of the shaft portion i2 is formed of sections to the forward section of which a clutch element 33 is secured and to the rear section of which a mating clutch element 34 is slidably splined and normally urged into an engaged position by a clutch spring 35. A clutch actuating rod 36 which is reciprocally mounted in guides 31 which project from the motor I I has a handle end disposed adjacent the operators seat 9 to be actuated by the operator and has an opposite forked end 38 which rotatably engages an annular groove 39 of the clutch element 34 whereby said element 34 may be moved rearwardly for disengaging the clutch and so that the forward part of the drive shaft portion l2 will be disengaged from the motor H.

A short transverse shaft 48 is journaled in a bearing 4| which is suitably secured in the body 8 and in the right-hand side wall 42 of said body, looking from rear to front of the machine I. The adjacently disposed inner ends of the shafts I1 and 40 carry meshing beveled gears 43 whereby the shaft 48 is driven from the shaft IT and said shaft 48 is provided with a sprocket wheel 44 located within the body 8' and a sprocket wheel 45 located externally of the body.

A transverse shaft 46 is journaled beneath the forward part of the body 8 by bearings 41 which depend from the bottom It]. The ends of the shaft 46 which extend beyond the sides of the body 8 each carry a kicker wheel 48 which is fixed thereto and which is cross-shaped in cross section or looking from an end thereof, a seen in Figure 2. The shaft 46 has a sprocket wheel 49 fixed thereto and an endles chain 50 is trained over the sprocket wheels 44 and 49 for driving the shaft 46 from the shaft 48. The chain 58 passes through an elongated opening of the bottom 10, as illustrated in Figure 4. The bottom l0 supports a depending hanger bracket 52 of U-shaped construction. As seen in Figure 3, a short shaft 53 is supported by and journaled in the intermediate portion of the bracket 52 and depends therefrom to provide a support for a horizontal cutter, designated generally 54 which is likewise cross-shaped and provided with four radially projecting arms 55 from the outer end of each of which a cutting bit 56 extends downwardly and outwardly. The arms 55 are also provided with depending brush elements 51 for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent. The shafts 4S and 53 are provided with meshing beveled gears 58 for causing the horizontal cutter 54 to be driven by the shaft 46.

An upwardly and rearwardly inclined trough 59 is supported at each side of the body 8 and outwardly thereof by supporting arms 89. The troughs 59 are open at their tops and ends and the lower forward ends thereof are disposed behind and adjacent the kicker wheels 48, as best illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. As seen in Figure 2, a shaft 8| carrying a pulley 82 is journaled adjacent each end of each trough 59 and transversely thereof and an endless conveyor 63 is disposed for movement longitudinally in each trough 59 and is trained over the pulleys 62 thereof. The endless conveyors 63 are provided with external slots 54 which are arranged transverse 1y thereof. The two lower shafts 6| constitute the end portions of a transverse shaft 65 which extends across the machine 1 below the body 8 and to which a sprocket wheel is secured beneath the sprocket wheel 45. This sprocket wheel is connected to the sprocket wheel 45 by an end- 4 less chain 65 for causing the endless conveyors 83 to be driven by the shaft 48 and in the same direction as said shaft.

As best seen in Figure 4, the bottom 10 is provided adjacent each side of the body 8 with longitudinally spaced depending bearings 81 for journaling stub axles 68 which extend outwardly from the sides of the body 8. A sprocket wheel 69 is fixed to the outer end of each stub axle 68 so that each side of the machine 1 is provided with a front and rear stub axle and a front and rear sprocket wheel. An endless surface engaging track or tread 10 is trained over the longitudinally aligned sprocket wheels 69 and is disposed outwardly of and adjacent each side of the body 8. A sprocket wheel H, of smaller diameter than the'sprocket wheels 89, is fixed to an inner portion of each of the rear stub axles 68 and is connected by an endless chain 12, which extends through an opening 13 in the bottom l8, and which is trained over a sprocket wheel 11 fixed to a shaft 14 which is disposed within the body 8 and which is journaled in bearings 15 and T6. The transversely spaced shafts 14 each constitute a part of a power-takeoff unit, designated generally 18 and which additionally includes a transversely disposed shaft 19 which is journaled in the bearings 15 and 7B and which is common to the right and left-hand powertakeoff units 78. A worm gear is fixed to the intermediate portion of the shaft 19 and meshes with a worm 8| which is fixed to a shaft 82 which is disposed in an upright position in the body 8 and which is supported by and journaled in a thrust bearing 83 which is secured to and rises from the bottom ID. A beveled gear 84 is fixed to the upper portion of the shaft 82 and meshes with the smaller beveled gear I6 whereby the shaft 82 and the shaft 19 will be revolved at a reduced speed by the drive shaft portion [5 of the engine H, as best illustrated in Figure 4. A friction clutch unit, designated generally 85, forms a part of each of the two power take-off units 18 and said clutch units 85 are mounted on the shaft 19 and adjacent the ends thereof. Each clutch unit 85, as best illustrated in Figure 5, includes a clutch half 86 which is turnably disposed on the shaft 79 and which has a gear 81 forming an integral part thereof. The other clutch half 88 is slidably splined as seen at 89 to the shaft 19. The adjacent ends of the clutch halves 86 and 88 are recessed as seen at 98 to accommodate an expension spring 9| which normally urges the clutch halves away from one another and to disengaged positions. The movement of the clutch halves away from one another is limited by collars 92 which are fixed to the shaft 19 and between which each of the clutches 85 are disposed. The annular adjacent faces of the clutch halves 86 and 88 carry annular friction elements 93 which engage when the clutch half 88 is moved toward the clutch half 86 for causing said clutch half 86 to be revolved with the shaft 19. A larger gear 94 is fixed to each shaft 14 and meshes with one of the gears 81 so that the shaft 14 of each power take-off unit 18 is driven when the clutch 85 there-. of is in an engaged position. Each clutch 85 also includes a clutch actuating rod 95 having a projection 96 at one end thereof loosely engaging an annular groove 91 in the clutch half 88, as best illustrated in Figure 5. The clutch actuators 95 are pivotally mounted adjacent said aforementioned ends on brackets 98, as seen in Figure Lfor horizontal swinging movement and-have 'their 'opposlte ends extending rearwa'rdl y to ad jacent the-operators seat 9 so that the rean handle :end of the actuating'l'ever 95 can-be moved inwardly for moving either or both of the clutch elemen'ts85 to engaged positions. When both of the clutches 85 are engaged, both shafts I4 will be driven and by m'e'ans of the chains I2 will drive the two =rear stub axles 68 for revolving the endless treads 10 in a direction for causing the machine I to move forwardly. To turn the machine in either direction, the clutch actuator 95 located at the side of the machine toward "which the turn is to be made is released so that the other endless tread I only will be driven for turningthemachine. The-endless treads 10 aredriven at avery slow speed du'e to-the reduction gearing between the shaft portion I and the stub axles -68, preferably so that the machine I will travel two feet a minute.

Power is furnished to the electric motor II through an electrical conductor line 99 one end of which, not shown, is'co'nnected to asuitable source of electric current. The conductor line 99 is wound on a reel I00 which is fixed to a shaft IOI which is journaled in a portion of the body 8. As best seen in Figure 1, a small shunt wound electric motor I02 which is secured in the body 8 has a suitable electric connection, not shown, to the conductor line 99 and is provided with a driven shaft I03 to which is fixed a worm gear I04. worm I05 fixed to the shaft IOI for turning said shaft and the reel I00 in a direction for winding; A very slight the conductor line 99 thereon. current is supplied to the shunt motor I 02 so that as the machine I advances forwardly said motor" 'will permit the reel I00 to turn in a directio-nto allow the conductor line 99 to be unwound theree thereto in a conventional manner as by conductor strips on the reel bottom or through the shaft IOI. From the foregoing it will be apparent that as the machine I is advanced through a vein of coal within a mine, the vertical cutters 25 and 26 will berevolved in opposite directions and the bits 30 thereof will cut circular cuts in the wall of the vein of coal. The picks 3I carried by the arms 28 of the vertical cutters 25 and 26 will chop out the coal left within the circles formed by the bits 30 and in relatively large chunks. The bits 30 in executing their circular cutsf ;wil1 leave an over-head layer of coal above said cutters 25 and"26 for supporting the slate above thIcoal and due to the arcs described by the cuttiiigzbits 30, the roof of the passage thus formed will-be provided with two substantially identical and parallel arch portions with a thick, tapered depending portion therebetween. A similar upstanding projection will be left at the bottom of the passage and between and centrally p; the cutters "25 and 2B and which will be cut-"out by the horizontal cutter 54 which is disposed behind and between the cutters 25 and 26. The cutter. 54 will be revolved in'a clockwise direction, looking down on the cutter from above or as seen in Figure 1 and the coal cut thereby will be swept by the brush means 51 laterally and to the right of the machine 1, looking from rear to front and so as to be engaged by the right-hand kicker wheel *48. Said. right-hand kicker wheel '48 will likewise receive the coal cut by the cutter 29 and the other, left-hand kicker wheel will receive the coal cut by the cutter 25. This out real will be thrown upwardly and over the kicker wheels '48 which revolve -counter-clockwise.. as seen in Figure 2,-on to the upper-flights ofthe endless conveyors 63. Said upper flights of the conveyors, 63 are moving upwardly and from front to rear of the machine 7 for conveying'the cut coal-upwardly and rearwardly of the troughs 59for dischargefr-omthe rear end of themachine I "into any suitable'means, not shown, by which the coal can be conveyedfrom the passage being formed by the machine 1. -It will be readilya'p- The worm gear I04 meshes with a actuator 36 and is previously described, forward motion and turning of the machine 'I can be controlled by the operator from the seat 9 "by operation of the clutchlevers 95.

The machine I is also equipped with a control box I06 disposed in front of and adjacent the operators seat 9 and having a control lever I01 suitably connected to the motor I I and providing a switch actuator whereby the flow of current to the motor may be shut off. The motor II is of the reversing type and adapted also to be reversed by the switch lever I0'I so that with the clutch 33, 34 disengaged the treads 10 may be driven in a direction for backing the machine 1. The control box I06 is provided with a second switch lever I08 for controlling the shunt motor I02.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A coal cutting and conveying machine comprising a prime mover, surface engaging rotatable elements driven by said prime mover for propelling the machine, a plurality of vertically disposed rotary cutters rotatably supported on said machine and disposed in advance thereof for cutting a passage ahead of the machine, a driving connection between said vertical cutters and the prime mover, endless conveyors supported at the sides of said machine, power takeoff means connecting said endless conveyors to the prime mover for driving the endless conveyors in a direction for causing the upper flights thereof to move rearwardly'relatively to the machine, one of said endless conveyors being disposed behind each of said rotary cutters and being adapted to receive and convey the coal cut thereby to a position behind the machine, and a horizontal cutter rotatably supported beneath said machine behind and between the vertical cutters for cutting out a ridge of coal between the vertical cutters, said horizontal cutter comprising arms extending radially outwardly from its axis and having cutting elements mounted on the outer end of the arms, and radial brush means carried by said horizontal cutter and extending along the undersides of the arms for brushing the coal cut thereby laterally of the machine and to a position in front of one of said endless conveyors.

2. A coal cutting machine having a prime mover, surface engaging elements driven by the prime mover for propelling the machine, a plurality of cutter elements driven by the prime mover disposed in vertical plane in advance of the machine and rotatably supported thereby, each of said cutter elements including a plurality of radially extending arms, a plurality of cutter bits supported by each of said arms and projecting forwardly therefrom, said cutter elements being spaced laterally a distance so that the paths of rotation of the cutting bits partially overlap, endles conveyors driven by the prime mover supported at the sides of the machine behind the cutter elements in outwardly offset 10 relationship to the axes thereof each having an upper flight moving in a direction away from the cutter elements for conveying the coal cut thereby rearwardly of the machine, a horizontal cutter driven by the prime mover and rotatably supported beneath the machine behind and between the vertical cutters for cutting out a ridge of coal between the vertical cutters, said horizontal cutter including a plurality of radially extending horizontally disposed arms having cutting elements secured to the outer end thereof and extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom, an elongated brush'element secured to the underside of each of said arms of the horizontal cutter and extending radially thereof for brushing the cut coal laterally of the machine and into positions in front of the endless conveyors.

ALFRED CROSSLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 504,179 Stanley Aug. 29, 1893 50 1,180 Stanley Aug. 29, 1893 1,554,723 Hamilton Sept. 22, 1925 1,603,621 McKinlay Oct. 19, 1926 1,674,870 Morgan June 26,- 1928, 2,229,087 Joy Jan. 21, 1941- 2,320,653 Ramsay June 1,1943

' FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Great Britain Feb. 4, 1905, 

